Author: GIKorea

This must have been fun for the people who won this award:

Fifteen troops and civilians affiliated with U.S. Forces Korea filled their shopping carts at the post exchange Thursday after each won a $10,000 shopping spree.

The prizes were part of a $2 million Sip. Rip. Ultimate Trip sweepstakes sponsored by Subway that began on July 1 to honor the 125th anniversary of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, which runs exchanges and other stores on military bases worldwide.

Army Sgt. Justin Moore, assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division, stopped to eat on Aug. 12 at a Subway before picking up a friend on the way to a basketball game. He peeled a game piece off his 30-ounce drink that came with his order and made a game-changing discovery.

“I decided to eat, and I just happened to get lucky,” Moore said. “First thing that happened when I read it was, I just yelled out ‘no way’ and everybody looked at me funny.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

For anyone living in Seoul you might want to avoid driving on October 3rd:

Leading conservative activist groups on Thursday said they will alter their plans for a massive antigovernment protest in downtown Seoul, and instead hold a drive-thru rally to avoid potential blame for subsequent coronavirus infections.  
    
A group of well-known conservative activists, including former Gyeonggi Gov. Kim Moon-soo and Pastor Suh Kyung-suk, held a press conference on Thursday to announce the change. The conservatives earlier had vowed to organize a rally near Gwanghwamun in central Seoul on National Foundation Day on Oct. 3, despite the government ban.    
   
“We will not hold a street gathering on Oct. 3 near Gwanghwamun,” the civic group said in a statement. “We urge other right-wing groups to join our position.”  
   
By law, it’s illegal to rally in large numbers in Seoul under the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s ban on any congregations involving 10 or more people through Oct. 11. Police warned they would arrest anyone who participates in rallies exceeding that limit.  
   
“No matter how serious the Covid-19 outbreak is, we must still express our rage toward the Moon Jae-in administration’s evil deeds and faults,” the statement said. “We believe holding a car parade is the only way to express our voices without falling into the trap of the government.”    
   
Earlier this month, Suh’s group applied for permission to hold a drive-thru rally on Oct. 3 in central Seoul. Suh said over 200 cars will march from Yeouido, western Seoul, to Seocho Police Station through Gwanghwamun from 1 to 5 p.m.    
   
“Because the authorities banned drive-thru rallies with more than 10 cars, we will march in groups of nine cars,” Kim said.   

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Just think the Korean left will probably still advocate for opening the Kumgang Resort in North Korea even after this latest travesty:

 North Korea shot and killed a South Korean official drifting at sea before dousing his body with oil and setting it on fire, the defense ministry said Thursday, prompting the country to erupt in outrage and casting a pall over the already frayed inter-Korean ties.

The 47-year-old official affiliated with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries disappeared from the 499-ton boat before noon Monday while on duty aboard an inspection boat in waters off the western border island of Yeonpyeong.

“North Korea found the man in its waters and committed an act of brutality by shooting at him and burning his body, according to our military’s thorough analysis of diverse intelligence,” the defense ministry said in a statement.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but one theory is that the fisheries official was trying to defect and the North Koreans shot and killed him then burned the body to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

It looks like President Duterte has finally realized that playing nice with the Chinese will not get them to back down from their South China Sea claims:

The Philippine president got rare praises Wednesday from his key critics for invoking before the United Nations a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated China’s vast territorial claims in the South China Sea, in a surprise move that will likely pique Beijing.

President Rodrigo Duterte made one of his strongest defenses of the Philippine victory in the arbitration case in his first address before the annual U.N. General Assembly where world leaders spoke mostly in prerecorded videos due to the pandemic. China has long refused to bring the issue to any international arena.

Duterte, who has nurtured close ties with China since taking office in mid-2016, has long been criticized for refusing to immediately and forcefully demand Chinese compliance with the ruling by a U.N.-backed tribunal. It found China’s claims on virtually the entire South China Sea on historical grounds inconsistent with international maritime law.

Associated Press

You can read more at the link, but for those that have not followed this issue, the Chinese have claimed nearly the entire South China Sea as their territory. This includes the waters and islands of other nations in the region to include the Philippines. They have slowly been bullying these nations into submission and President Duterte initially tried to play nice with China which did nothing to stop their territorial ambitions over Filipino waters and islands.

This bad idea keeps coming up:

President Moon Jae-in’s speech early Wednesday morning at the 75th United Nations General Assembly contained some proposals on engaging North Korea. 

Political watchers, however, generally view the proposals, including declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War, as unrealistic in the current deadlock in inter-Korean and denuclearization talks.

Moon called for the support of the international community in declaring an official end to the war, which was halted by an armistice, not a peace treaty. He also proposed the establishment of a new network of countries in Northeast Asia, including the two Koreas, China, Japan and Mongolia, to promote cooperation in infectious disease control and the promotion of public health.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link but a Korean War peace treaty is something that North Korea has long sought as a way to end the presence of US troops in South Korea. If there is peace why is USFK needed?

President Moon has been saying all the right things that USFK will remain after any peace treaty is signed, to include claiming Kim Jong-un understands this as well. However, this is likely just rhetoric to prevent energizing South Korean conservatives against a peace treaty. 

Remember Moon is a very skilled politician that needs to keep the Korean right at bay and public anxiety down.  If he openly advocated for a USFK withdrawal, that would give the South Korean right an issue to strongly attack him with and cause much public anxiety after decades of security guarantees provided by US forces.  

That is why I think the Moon administration will publicly say they support USFK staying, but will then have surrogates do things to make life difficult for USFK if a peace treaty is agreed to. Every USFK traffic accident, parking ticket, drunken fight, etc. will become a national headline complete with anti-US activists protesting to increase anti-US sentiment.  It will be the 2002-2004 timeframe all over again and this time the Korean left will hope that the US president decides to pull out USFK on his own accord.

Heck even our friends in Canada understand this.